Betty Boop and Grampy

This is a fun little Boop short that really stars Grampy.

Grampy is an eccentric old man that by today's standards might come off as a little creepy. Nonetheless, he's a man with great charm... and gadgets. On Betty's way to Grampy's house, she invites all the easily attracted men in her path and humorous antics follow.

I still can't figure out why Grampy's house is so far away from the road!

I'd recommend this short for it's creativity and good music alone.

Grampy sends Betty Boop a letter inviting her to a party and asking her to bring the gang. Two piano movers, a fireman and a traffic cop all drop what they're doing to join in. Grampy's various contraptions, and his novel uses for household objects, make his place loads of fun. He even manages to improvise music with an electric fan, a tea kettle, a pair of gloves and a piece of pipe from his oven. Everyone has a good time, but Grampy proves to be the most youthful of the bunch.

Grampy is not a particularly appealing (or unappealing) character; but his inventions are always very funny. Betty has little to do in this cartoon, except attract men to Grampy's party. By the time this was made, the censors had de-Boop-ified Betty: reducing her from a cute little tease to a syrupy sweet goody-two-shoes. At least here she gets to inspire the lust of men willing to cause catastrophe by neglecting their work.

The Betty Boop series of shorts were wonderful Grampy is probably my favorite secondary character. Koko was probably the strongest supporting character in the series, but I like Grampy more. This is his cartoon, hands down. He did that more than once in the series. While not the best of the series, one of the better ones certainly. The bulk of the series is in print and available and well worth having. Recommended.

Betty Boop and Grampy (1936)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Grampy invites Betty Boop and a couple others to his house so that they can see the crazy inventions he has come up with. This includes a chandelier that comes down to serve punch, a special cake cutter and a flute that can play itself when put into a tea pot. BETTY BOOP AND GRAMPY isn't one of the better shorts in the series but there's still enough here that will keeps fans entertained. I think the highlight is a musical number that happens towards the end of the film as the music itself is quite catchy and I also thought that the little dance sequences were fun. The quality of the animation is top-notch as one would expect and I thought there was quite a bit of imagination in use and especially during the finale. There really aren't as many big laughs as one would have hoped for but there's no question that this contains some rather pre-code sexuality from Betty Boop, which was a little surprising considering this came out after the code started to be stricter.

Betty gets a telegram from Grampy to come over to his house "for a little party" and "come right over and bring the gang," he adds. "Ohh," she shrieks, and puts on her hat and heads right over. As she is singing about "Gramy's house" while strutting down the street, she is joined by people who overhear her lyrics and tag along. They literally drop everything (i.e. piano) and follow her.

The rest of the cartoon shows the amazing inventions in Grampy's house and, believe me, they are a hoot to see and hear (such as the clever way he produces music for the party.)

This is great stuff - a "feel-good" cartoon, if I ever saw one.